I need to step it up on this Trip Report… I keep taking longer and longer between updates! Anyway, when I last left off, D and I took a spin into the Universe of Energy… and it was invigorating!! (Or I don’t know, maybe not. LOL!)

When we got out of the ride, it was past 10 o’clock already. I intended us to head over towards the Land and/or the Imagination Pavilion, but with the possibility of poking about at whatever we saw on the way, too. This is where D discovered the Fountain of Nations. She was entranced. It was the first of many times throughout the day that she stopped and watched the show going on. And the thing is, until she did that, I hadn’t realized that I have NEVER stopped and watched the FoN show. Not once. I just never paid enough attention to notice how it’s all synched with the music playing. Well, I’ve seen plenty of it now, and it’s well-worth standing and watching for a while!

Here’s a video I found on YouTube. This is NOT taken by me, it is by WDWLive.

I dragged D away from the water and we got in line for some character greetings. I was on a mission this trip to find Chip and Dale for a good friend who loves them, and I had read that they were sometimes at the Character Spot, but no luck this time. However, Mickey, Minnie and Goofy were there! And I havent’ said this yet in this trip report, but I love Goofy. He’s not my favourite Disney character but he is my fave meet and greet!

Doesn’t it seem like Mickey ought to be the last one you meet? Like let the excitement build or something? OH well, he was first, the end.

This is the first time I noticed Goofy wearing suspenders and his shirt being too short. LOL! See something new every time. 😉

Emerging from the Character Spot, I noticed we were close to Club Cool. And thus began my nefarious plan to trick D into drinking the Beverly.

I didn’t want to completely put her off all the sodas, so I warmed her up with a couple of other flavours. A lot of the dispenser stations were low on sodas (which I’d later learn was because they were discontinuing nearly all of them), so I had to pick and choose. But there was a wrinkle in my plan, something I had forgotten: D doesn’t like carbonated beverages. The bubbles irritate her tongue. She never, ever drinks soda.

Well, she was willing to try the first one, to see if she still didn’t like it. So I gave her the VegitaBeta flavour first. Too strong, she said. I tried the Smart Watermelon flavour next – I really thought it was a little less bubbly.

But this is the face she made.

I said “Try just one more?” because I evidently want my daughter to never trust me again. I even poured the Beverly and took a sip, saying “Oh, it’s really okay!” She backed away shaking her head. A firm NO.

I know when not to push. But this was on my “MUST DO” list. SOMEBODY was gonna drink the Beverly.

So I handed D my camera, and I took one for the team.

I regret nothing!

Never doubt that I am devoted to my plans, folks. 😉

After this there was a little bit more staring at the Fountain of Nations, then I dragged us into Innoventions West. I picked West largely because we were on that side of the park at that moment, and because I wasn’t sure which was which; if I’d actually known, I’d have gone to East, because West was the only side we did LAST trip. The last time, D and I had done the Great Piggy Bank game and the fire safety game, and there wasn’t a whole lot else in there; well, this time she was up to do the Piggy Bank game again, so we did, but otherwise once again – not a whole lot to do. We played a bit of video games (Toy Story) and left, heading to the Imagination Pavilion.

By this time I have to admit, I was getting into a bit of a hurry. Off and on I’d do that – let us linger someplace, then feel like I had to make up the time. So, unfortunately, we did not get the chance to take in the Imagination pavilion… which is too bad, because it’s actually among my favourites in the park! Yes, I mean just for the jumping fountains. 😀 Anyway, I kept telling D that we had to “book it” across the park to get to whatever I had my mind set on. XD That became a mantra for the rest of the trip, recurring whenever I felt like there was a time crunch, so probably about 2-3 times each day.

In spite of D’s wish to do Captain EO, we did end up just hopping onto Journey Into Imagination.

In MY imagination, this picture looked a lot better.

I’m so torn on this ride – I like it every time I do it, but I also feel like it could just be SO much better. The song isn’t in it nearly enough. And in spite of having a huge soft spot for Eric Idle, I miss Dreamfinder. Although I also have to admit that I really like the ending. The first time I went on the ride was the first time I ever heard “One Little Spark”, and with it being sung by Eric Idle, I thought perhaps he had written it! Yeah, yeah, don’t kill me. Eric Idle writes some very singable songs! Anyway, I like the original MUCH more now, but I’m just happy every time I hear it no matter who is singing it. 🙂 Even if it’s a hideous puffy moon face! 😀

In any case, D loves the ride, and I’m more than happy to take her on it. (I conveniently “forgot” to ask her if she wanted to go on Nemo this time around.) Afterwards we hung around the ImageWorks area for a while and she built her own Figment, we hopped around on the musical instruments floor, and then we moved on to the Land.

Our FP+ for Soarin’ was still hours away so this time was just about getting onto Living With the Land, which is one of my favourites, and which D consistently mentioned having liked on our last trip. I wasn’t completely sure if that would hold up, because I didn’t know if she remembered it accurately – but she enjoyed it just as much!

I have only waited in a line for this ride ONCE. That was in May 2008. Otherwise it’s been walk-on every time and today was no exception. We got right on and started our tour of different ecological systems… This was the part of the ride that D really remembered. She finds the part with the buffalo on the prairie to be completely fascinating. And she was also pretty convinced that it was really raining in the rainforest. XD

AND, I discovered a month or two before our trip – rather by accident – that she loves the song “Listen to the Land”. You know, the song that is no longer a part of the ride? LOL! But I put it onto a CD for our trip and every time it came on she asked to listen to it again immediately after. So in honour of D, I’m going to share another of my fave videos by someone else – this one is by Joanna (of the Amazing Technicolor Interwebs), and I love it!

We saw a bunch of the hidden mickeys inside the greenhouse portion, which was great! A lot of the time, we are going too fast for D to see them. This time she pointed a few out! She also really liked the baby alligators etc.

Once we were finished, we went alllll the way back out (honestly – the only downside of the Land pavilion is how long a walk it is from entrance to rides, and back!) and then since it was already past noon, it was time to hit up World Showcase!

Thank you for adding another must-do for my January trip: stand and watch FoN. I’ve never done that for more than a couple of minutes. 🙂 Let’s see, I also have to try school bread, eat at the new lounge at Hollywood Brown Derby, and… oh, yeah, try to wrap my head around this new FP+ thing!
And I totally agree with you about Goofy. He’s awesome! During our last trip, on a character lunch at Tusker House, he refused to leave our table until I got up and gave him a hug. My boys are still laughing about it!

I sort of couldn’t believe I hadn’t paid attention to it, myself. It was doing something different every time we passed and I realized I’d never stood and watched it. It’s kind of funny to me that my daughter – who I kept reminding to slow down and enjoy the details – was the one who pulled ME into that!

Oh, if you need any help with FastPass+, just ask… I’ll do my best. 🙂 They’ve changed it around some since I was there but if I don’t know the answer I can try and find someone who does.

Your Goofy story reminds me of when my husband and I went w/o the kids to Garden Grill. Chip in particular had a great time with my husband. At one point he put a pile of sugar packets onto my husband’s head, and then he laid them down on the table and, one at a time, ripped them open and poured them into my husband’s glass of lemonade. XD

Thanks, Rebecca! I’ve been on the phone with Disney IT the past 2 mornings trying to sort out issues with my FP+ reservations. At the moment, everything looks to be in place. We’ll see how it goes once we get there. I’m an eternal optimist, but have to admit that I’m a bit scared of this new system. We easily go through 8 or more paper FPs a day, so a limit of 3 (especially if all parks go to the “tier” system) sounds like a total bummer.

There are a lot of things I’m hoping they will change. I think their hope that this will reduce attraction congestion is a valid one, and I hope it works, but I also hope that the limits during the testing – ESPECIALLY the single-park rule – are lifted once they get things sorted out.

I think the tier idea can work but if they’re going to do that then I sincerely hope that they increase the total number of FPs allowed, including the higher-tier ones. I’m trying to be fair to what they intend to do, and not balk at change, but some of the changes put a real damper on… needlessly. So I’m looking at this with my “it’s under development!” rose-coloured glasses on, and probably really annoying people who have every reason to be frustrated by it. 😉

Good luck with them! The part I dislike the most (I’ll admit I dislike parts!) is that you can’t get just 2 FPs, or get 3 from tier 2 and none from tier 1. They are really rigid on where you can select from and I hope that’s just while they play with the algorithms and doesn’t stay that way!